Hungry? Have a Snickers
by lianpe
Summary: In which raptor daddy Owen has to prove himself as an Alpha. Features raptor squad cuddles. Oneshot.


**Written after a perplexing dream, in which a raptors kept trying to steal my snickers.** **_So_ mean.** **All mistakes are mine (and my imagination's). This is a mad whim and the sappyness that ensues** **does not mean any disrespect to the JW/JP universe.**

Owen liked being outdoors. It was something to do with the way the sun warmed his skin and the wind ruffled his hair. He could never understand how people like Claire could spend most of their time indoors, where the air had that slightly sterile smell of a posh office.

There was another reason he loved being outside - his girls.

Blue, Delta, Echo and Charlie kept him busy 24/7, but he had absolutely no complaints on that score. They were his pack - his family. He liked to think of himself as their Alpha, their team-leader, their Daddy.

He cast a fond glance at their enclosure. Blue, by far the smartest of the bunch, always seemed to know when his eyes were on her. Her yellow eyes sought his; she lifted her head and called to him.

"Hey, Blue-girl." he said, under his breath. Her sense of hearing was so acute that he knew she'd hear him, even from way over in her enclosure.

She continued to raise her head and vocalise. The sound she made was strange - a cross between a bird call and something utterly different. Owen prided himself on being able to distinguish what his raptors wanted or how they were feeling from the intonation of their calls.

Hoskins walked up to him, feet crunching gravel loudly. "I'm surprised you haven't trained them to be quiet." His voice carried sarcastic undertones that Owen immediately disliked. "What's the point of training an animal if you can't get it to obey you?"

As if on cue, Blue fell silent. Her eyes never left Owen's face. Delta, beside her, uttered a soft chirp. Echo hopped from one foot to the other. Charlie ceased biting the bars of their enclosure.

Well aware of the fact he had the eyes of his pack trained on him, Owen said, "I don't expect them to obey me. I don't want them to - they're not dogs or performing animals. They're my pack. We rely on trust."

"Trust?" Hoskins cocked a brow. "Tell me, Grady, will trust stop that ugly brute over there from ripping your arm off when it's in a temper?" He pointed at Blue.

" _She's_ a _girl_." Owen replied, coolly. "And I'm the Alpha. If they trust me to act as their pack leader, then I needn't worry about getting my arms ripped off."

Hoskins shrugged, unconvinced. "If you say so." He began to walk away.

Something rose up in Owen - something sharp and angry. "Hey - I know what I'm doing. I could walk into that enclosure right now, no problem."

"Sure." Hoskins laughed. "Have you ever done that before?"

 _Yes, I have. Well...they'd been sedated..._ "Yes." Owen said. _I'm their Alpha. They have to obey their Alpha._ He swallowed. Most of their training was done with him behind protective bars, and even so, Blue, the most headstrong of the raptors, was inclined to show plays of dominance. _Shit._

"Okay." Hoskins eyed him as if he had taken leave of his senses. "You can go right ahead, if you want to. But I don't want to have to shoot any of them to get your body out, Grady."

"You won't have to." Owen walked towards the enclosure, taking long, swift strides. Rather against his better judgement, he found himself sweating nervously. Raptors, like all top predators, would be able to sense his anxiety long before he got into the enclosure with them. _Calm now, Owen. Be calm. They're your girls. You're their Alpha. Their Daddy._

The raptors watched him approach the enclosure. Charlie stuck her snout through the bars and snorted a greeting. Echo chirped. Delta cocked her head and looked at him, unsure.

Only Blue stood rigid; tense. She made a soft growl in her throat. For all her affection, her DNA had made her the wildest of the bunch. She had the highest percentage of raptor DNA - 93.5% (Delta, Charlie and Echo had percentages of raptor DNA ranging from 78 to 67%, making them, by degrees, tamer).

Despite the fact he had reared her since the time she was barely a foot in length, he would have to be careful. There were no bars to hide behind. She was, very likely, going to challenge his dominance, as adult raptors were said to do (in much the same way as most large predators). He would have to hold his ground. And stay calm.

He walked up to the gate, unlatched it. Took a deep breath. Stepped into the enclosure.

Echo and Charlie immediately chirped a greeting. They bobbed their heads in play, bouncing from foot to foot.

Delta was more reserved. She looked at Blue, as if she were waiting for orders.

 _That's not good. She mustn't think of Blue as the Alpha. I have to correct this._

He took a step towards Blue. "Hey, girl. Blue." He had to establish dominace over Blue, or Delta would start taking orders from her. "Blue."

Blue made no move to approach him. She stood, sniffing the air, unsure of how to proceed.

"Looks like you've got a bit of a problem." Hoskins called, from the gate. "I'd advise you to get out now."

Owen ignored him. "Blue!"

Echo and Charlie's enthusiasm at seeing him started to wane. They sensed that something was wrong. Echo chirped at Blue, who growled.

Since she would not come to him, Owen decided to move towards her. "Blue, stand down."

Blue continued to growl. She flexed her claws.

A sense of disappointment washed over Owen. _We're family, Blue. Don't you remember?_

Echo continued to chirp agitatedly. Blue took a step towards Owen, head bowed in an aggressive stance. She was trying to intimidate him.

It was working. He felt the beginnings of cold sweat trickle down his back. His hand brushed the pocket of his jeans. His brow furrowed. He reached into his pocket, recalling a memory.

 _It's worth a try._

He extracted a rather soft, squashed Snickers bar from the pocket of his jeans. Peeled the wrapper off. "Blue, girl?" he said, softly. "Remember these? Snickers? You used to steal them from my pockets all the time when you were younger."

Blue craned her neck, nostrils flaring. She took another step forward. Delta inched closer, mirroring her movements.

"Come on, girl." _Please, Blue._

The raptor took another step forward. She was now close enough for Owen to feel each breath wash over his face. She glanced at the chocolate with suspicion.

"It's for you, girl." Owen coaxed.

Blue's eyes searched his face. She sniffed the chocolate, but did not take it.

"Get out of there, Grady!" Hoskins shouted.

Blue did not flinch, nor look away. She stared Owen in the eye.

Then, quick as a flash, she leaned forward and - _chomp_!

The Snickers was history.

Blue dropped her aggressive stance. She eyed him, as if asking for permission of some sort.

"Come on, girl."

She stepped forward, laying her head on Owen's shoulder, purring softly in her chest. Delta followed suit, then Echo, then Charlie.

Soon Owen was hidden the midst of a pack of purring raptors.

"So that's the trick?" Hoskins called. "Bribe them with chocolate?"

"No." Owen replied, scratching Blue's neck. "I didn't back down. Confidence is vital in establishing dominance."

Echo snorted loudly at his neck and he laughed, unexpectedly, at the sensation of having a warm gust of air go down the back of his shirt.

"Good girl. Yes, you too. And you. _And_ you - I haven't forgotten about you."

Owen was elated. He'd never done this before. He'd never stepped into the raptors' enclosure without _any_ form of protection. It was supposed to be _too dangerous_. Blue was supposed to be too unpredictable, with her sudden fits of dominance interspersed in her affection.

 _This...this isn't dangerous. This is...family_.

Blue, her head still resting on his shoulder, let her yellow eyes bore into his. She chirped, almost as if in agreement.

Owen raised his head and made a passable imitation of her chirp, drunk on elation.

The raptor squad cocked their heads, then raised them to voice answering calls.

The pack was in agreement. Their Alpha was here to stay.

\--

 **Awwww.** **I don't even know if anyone really reads fics like this. But I like the idea of Owen having to prove himself as an Alpha and then getting a cute moment with his raptor squad.**


End file.
